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All the reports I have seen state that VP picks don't actually bring a state on board. Look at Portmann as a case study. The difference with him and Biden added to the polling is nothing. Obama won Ohio in a questionnaire whether Portmann was on the ticket or it was straight between Romney and Obama. The change was one percent and had no effect on the outcome at all.

Yeah I dont see nominating a VP purely in hopes of getting a swing state(or increase a greater appeal to get a few swing states).

I may be going outside of the box on this pick...but what about the cat helicopter for VP? I believe his name is Orville

All the reports I have seen state that VP picks don't actually bring a state on board. Look at Portmann as a case study. The difference with him and Biden added to the polling is nothing. Obama won Ohio in a questionnaire whether Portmann was on the ticket or it was straight between Romney and Obama. The change was one percent and had no effect on the outcome at all.

Just look at Edwards in '04. Didn't exactly reign in that NC and VA electoral votes like he was projected to.

Alberto Gonzales (I think he has an s at the end of his name and not a z), points out rightfully that simply being Hispanic does not make you qualified to be VP, which is the same thing as saying someone is qualified to be president.

What has Rubio done exactly to earn contention for the VP spot? As I said before, good person and maybe even a good representative of his constituents in Florida, but I just don't see anything that says he is qualified to be the president.

He's about as qualified as Barack Obama was when he ran for president.

All the reports I have seen state that VP picks don't actually bring a state on board. Look at Portmann as a case study. The difference with him and Biden added to the polling is nothing. Obama won Ohio in a questionnaire whether Portmann was on the ticket or it was straight between Romney and Obama. The change was one percent and had no effect on the outcome at all.

you're probably right about the effectiveness of selecting a VP to win a state. It still seems a good reason though. just not as good.

Florida is an important state. anything the mitt'ster can do to help his chances is a good idea. Wish he'd select mike pense myself. better he be a VP than the governor of indiana.

I think VPs are generally overated on their impacts on campaigns. I don't think they move the needle much in terms of a state. I guess you could say a pic would energize a part of the base (a social conservative for example). But mostly, I think it's the only thing to talk about for a while during the campaign and thus gets more importance than in the media and with politic fans than it does in reality.

FWIW, this is the kind of thing that drives me crazy when DF28 does it. [think it's him]. Taking an idea that someone posts and going to the extreme exaggeration. Not a way to encourage discussion.

I think the point was that a VP choice could help win a state. not guarantee it.

I think this nails it. If you pick a dingleberry (Palin, Edwards, etc) its just not going to help much. If you pick a fairly well respected or energizing candidate from an important swing state, it would help.

I am wondering if Condi would do it. If for no other reason than to see her debate Biden. It would be like watching Hulk Hogan wrestle Richard Simmons.

FWIW, this is the kind of thing that drives me crazy when DF28 does it. [think it's him]. Taking an idea that someone posts and going to the extreme exaggeration. Not a way to encourage discussion.

I think the point was that a VP choice could help win a state. not guarantee it.

I don't see where I made an extreme comment or an exaggeration. Please let me know where I did one or both.

The point is that the VP doesn't help you win a state and making a pick that assumes voters will think "I may disagree with that candidate, but he picked a guy from my state so I'll vote for him" makes no sense.

And he'd be the VP, which is a ceremonial position these days. (except for DC, of course)

Rubio seems like the best option right now. Not for the votes in Florida, but because he's well spoken and isn't a dunce like most VP's that have been on the ticket the past 10 years.

I agree with your sentiment here, but disagree that the VPs have been dunces. Biden, well yes of course, but Cheney was no idiot. People may think he's a patriot, or they may think he's evil incarnate, but he's pretty smart either way (except when it comes to basic gun safety). I also remember seeing the VP debates for the 2000 election and hearing several people ask why those two weren't the folks running, and not the two clowns that were actually on headlining their parties tickets.

Mitt Romney's problem is the need to get the conservative base and TEA Party on board. He has two options in doing this. 1) A TEA Party backed veep 2) Depend on Obama's negatives to steer the conservatives and TEA Party toward him.

Two candidates have this ability.

1) Marco Rubio: Rubio was a TEA Party US Senate candidate. He is conservative. He may help carry the Hispanic/Latino vote due to his ethnicity. He, however, may cost some of the vote from the "birthers." A lot of the stuff with Obama birthers is shrouded in mystery while with Rubio it isn't. He was born to two non-citizen parents. This will no doubt cause a stir. Add this in with the Romney "birther" issue with his father being born in Mexico, but it would appear that Rubio's background may be the strongest against natural-born status of any of the three.

2) Rand Paul - TEA Party candidate. May sway some Ron Paul folks, libertarians, constitutionalists, etc. His biggest negative would be getting into ideological discussions such as the discussion over the Civil Rights Act.